I shot the Diamond, part of Sheffield University on 21st April at 2pm, a time of day chosen to capture the sunlight reflecting back up from the lower metallic surfaces so as to highlight the underside of the surfaces above and give an illuminated feel to the image. Shot for Getty Images and part of the Sheffield Design Week 'A View of Sheffield' Exhibition.
The building was under construction when I photographed it. This can be a problem with new builds in particular. On this shoot there were distractions such as tall metal fencing, personnel in high visibility vests, cranes and heavy plant equipment. I got around the problem on this shoot by avoiding lower sections of the building along with unfinished areas and keeping distractions in windows down to a minimum. The fact that the sky was clear meant that I could shoot this keeping reflections looking clean and flat. This was ideal for the metallic parts of the building too as I wanted to avoid clouds reflecting in the windows and on the metallic surfaces making them look mottled. The tilt shift lens was used at maximum tilt meaning that at least two f-stops of aperture correction were required.